Vegan Probiotics: The 10 Best Vegan Probiotic Supplements in 2020

Probiotics are everywhere at the moment. They’re the new health craze that might actually be all it’s cracked up to be. If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on some, but not sure if they would fit into your vegan lifestyle, then worry no more.

There’s plenty of probiotic products out there that are vegan and pack as much punch as you need to get some serious health benefits. Read on to find out a bit more about what probiotics are and what they can do for you.

What are probiotics?

In your gut, there are groups of beneficial bacteria, yeast, and microorganisms. These organisms make up your gut flora and are called probiotics.

You can have over 400 species of probiotics and more than 300 trillion good and bad bacteria in your gut. This makes it the largest microbial population in the human body and extremely important to take care of.

Just a few of the health issues probiotics help you with include:

Managing infections and diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s as mentioned in this medical article

Producing vitamins

Providing 70% of your immune response

Defending against bad bacteria

Aiding digestion

Regulating hormones

Maintaining urinary and vaginal health

Lowering cholesterol

Foods like kimchi, yoghurt, tempeh and drinks like kefir and kombucha, all contain probiotics. However, if these are a little hard to fit into your everyday diet, an easy way to get probiotics into your body is through a daily supplement.

Just like humans, probiotics thrive best when they’re given fuel. This fuel comes in the form of indigestible fibers in foods like garlic, onions, oats, and bananas that your probiotics feed on. These fibers are known as prebiotics.

These prebiotics might be a little easier to introduce to your diet, or they may already be there. If not though, try to find a probiotic supplement that contains prebiotics, which is also known asa synbiotic.

Tips and tricks for purchasing probiotics

Colony forming units (CFU)– CFU are the count of viable cells in the product. Anything over 10 billion CFU’s will produce a positive effect. However, start off at this level and work your way up to as many CFU’s as possible once your body is used to the supplement since the more CFU’s the better.

Find the right strains – Finding the right probiotic strain is important if you’re wanting to treat a specific health concern. Do some research about which ones will help you and get a product with as many of those strains in it as possible.

Acid resistant – As explained in this medical article, getting a probiotic with acid and bile tolerance is crucial. Probiotics can be killed off by these two things if given half the chance. Therefore, be sure to get a product with technology that can withstand the stomach’s harsh conditions.

Refrigeration and expiry – As with most products, the further away it is from the expiry date the better. Probiotics are no exception. Ensure potency by finding a bottle that’s not near it’s expiry and has been refrigerated before purchase (if necessary).

Read the label – Reading the label is especially important when you need to know if your product is vegan. Also, be sure to get a product with the least fillers possible and opt for one that has added vitamins and minerals for a bonus health kick.

Prebiotics – Find a synbiotic product as explained above.

One a day – Keep the dose to once a day if you can, just to make things easier to remember, so you can remain consistent with your new supplement.

Will I notice changes immediately?

Generally, most results will take around two weeks to really show themselves. However, smaller improvements like less gas or bloating and better mental clarity may even be seen within the first couple hours of taking your probiotic.

If you have a poor diet, don’t exercise regularly or take medications that make your body more acidic you may be hindering your results. And always get the best quality probiotic you can afford to ensure maximum potency and the quickest, most effective results.

Best time of day to take probiotics?

As this medical study explains, taking your probiotic with your meal is the best option for the greatest results. This is so your food can protect the probiotic against your stomach acid. What time of day you take it though, is largely dependent on why you’re taking your probiotic in the first place.

How often do I need to be taking my probiotics?

Be sure to take your probiotics daily, and don’t worry about overdoing it. If your body doesn’t need the extra probiotics, it will simply flush them out with your regular bodily functions.

If you do notice any negative side effects though, stop taking them and head to your doctor for advice on how to proceed.

10 Best Vegan Probiotics in 2020

Now for the fun part. Here is a list of the best vegan probiotics of 2020 all bundled up in a nice little list for your viewing pleasure.

#1 – Editor’s Choice

1MD Complete Probiotics Platinum

Everything you’ll ever need

Within 1MD Complete Probiotics Platinum, you will find prebiotics, 11 different strains of probiotics, and a huge dose of 51 billion friendly bacterial cellsjam-packed into every capsule. This product will cover your full spectrum of probiotic needs without compromising your vegan lifestyle.

Go easy, tiger

First time users did report some gas and bloating in the first couple weeks. This could possibly be due to how powerful this product is. Therefore, don’t be alarmed unless the symptoms continue after the two weeks is up. If you’re really not feeling the benefits of this product, be sure to contact 1MD about their money back guarantee.

However, with 96% of users experiencing better digestion,(1MD survey from 2016) we doubt you’ll be needing to return the product.

PRO’S

CON’S

Slightly more expensive

Possible temporary digestive issues

No added vitamins or minerals

#2 Dr. Stern Rebalance Essential Probiotic

Added amino acid

Amino acids are what proteins are made of. They can help you with general digestion, losing weight, building muscle, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and even brain health. This product contains the amino acid L-glutamine to assist with all of these health concerns along with getting your hit of probiotics at 40 billion CFU per serving.

Prebiotic inulin

This product has chosen to add inulin to their capsules as their prebiotic. However, some users have mentioned they are intolerant to inulin, which is a starchy substance found in a heap of veggies, herbs, and fruits. Therefore, if you do have an adverse reaction to using this product, this could be the reason why.

PRO’S

CON’S

Some people intolerant to inulin (prebiotic)

Twice daily dose

#3 Vitamin Bounty – Pro 50

Patented release technology

This probiotic supplement comes with an awesome feature built into each capsule. The time delay release technology ensures that the maximum amount of the 50 billion CFU and 13 strains probiotics will make it to your gut safe and sound.

Greener pastures

As an added bonus, this product contains a good hit of greens including barley, wheat and oat grass in every capsule. Fermented greens will give you extra nutrients and extra probiotics at the same time.

PRO’S

CON’S

Be sure to double check if you could be intolerant to any of the fermented greens.

#4 Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotic Extra Care

Powerhouse product

Similar to the 1MD product above, this Renew Life probiotic has 12 different strains and 50 billion CFU per serving. So no matter what you’re needing your probiotic for, you’re almost guaranteed to get the desired results with this product.

Digestion troubles

From the vast amount of positive reviews this product has, the main praise is the immense improvements it’s made to the consumer’s digestive problems. This is a great product to try if you suffer from leaky gut, poor digestion, or reflux.

PRO’S

CON’S

No prebiotics

No added vitamins or minerals

#5 New Rhythm Probiotics

Strains galore

If you’re looking for a product with a huge spectrum of health benefits, then this might be the one for you. It has a massive 20 strains of different probiotics, which is a lot more than most products on the market at the moment. In addition to that, it also has 50 billion CFUs. Therefore, whatever your health concern is, you’re sure to see some great improvements with this product.

Quick results

From the reviews on this product, many customers have reported that they’ve seen great digestive results after as little as the first day they started taking the probiotic. If you’re wanting fast relief from digestion troubles, this is the probiotic for you.

PRO’S

CON’S

You need to take two capsules a day

#6 Live Well PRO45 Live Probiotics

4x times more prebiotics

Prebiotics are essential to boosting the growth and potency of your probiotic supplement. Therefore, the more prebiotics the better. Live Well claims to include 4 times more prebiotics, called NutraFlora, in their product than most other Amazon brands.

Money back guarantee

Some probiotic products carry a money back satisfaction guarantee, which means they’ll offer a refund if you’re not happy with the product. This guarantee is usually good anywhere between 30 days and 90 days. Live Well, however, offers an awesome 365-day money back guarantee, which reassures you that this company is very confident that their product will work for you.

PRO’S

CON’S

No added vitamins or minerals

#7 Garden of Life Primal Defense ULTRA Ultimate Probiotic

Up to three capsules daily

If more powerful probiotic products with higher CFU counts cause you some gas and bloating, you may benefit from a product like this one where you can modify the dosage. With this product, one capsule contains 5 billion CFUs. Therefore, you can have up to three a day depending on your needs.

Even if you opt for a lower dose, each capsule will have 13 different strains, so this diversity of probiotics will still provide you with a full range of health benefits.

Quality control

Many of the negative reviews on Amazon claim that this product’s consistency is not what it should be. Some bottles are producing no results and are not reacting when left in milk overnight, which is a common test to check potency. Therefore, there may be an issue with quality control of these probiotics.

PRO’S

CON’S

No added vitamins or minerals

Consistency of bottles is questionable

#9 BioGanix BioPro-50

What the customers are saying

Everything from hair, skin and nails to IBS and lactose intolerance have been reported to be improved with this product, as seen on its reviews online. This shows that the strains in BioGanix’s probiotic cocktail are all working synergistically to produce far-reaching results.

Smaller capsules

The small capsule size caters those of us who have difficulties swallowing larger capsules or tablets. If you need something smaller to swallow, then BioGanix has got you covered.

PRO’S

50 billion CFU

11 strains

Small capsule

Once daily dose

No fillers

CON’S

No added vitamins or minerals

#10 Culturelle Daily Probiotic

Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Lactobacillus rhamnosus is the only strain that Culturelle has chosen to put in their probiotic product, and for good reason. It’s been proven as one of the most effective strains on the market and targets digestive issues with a focus on diarrhea, gas, and bloating. This strain is also strong enough to survive harsh stomach acids.

One capsule a day

Keep it nice and easy with a once daily dose of their veggie capsules loaded with 10 billion CFU’s each. Staying consistent means your gut will be healthy and brimming with beneficial bacteria at all times.

Staci has been a registered dietitian with the Commission on Dietetic Registration since 2010 and has over a decade of experience in the nutrition and dietetics industry. She has graduate degrees in Biology, Human Nutrition, and Nutrition and Education from New York University, the Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition, and Teacher’s College, Columbia University, respectively.

Last Updated on February 23rd, 2020

Summary

Reviewer

Staci Gulbin

Review Date

2018-09-13

Reviewed Item

Vegan Probiotics

Author Rating

5

About Staci Gulbin

Staci Gulbin MS, MEd, RD, LDN.

Staci has been a registered dietitian with the Commission on Dietetic Registration since 2010 and has over a decade of experience in the nutrition and dietetics industry. She has graduate degrees in Biology, Human Nutrition, and Nutrition and Education from New York University, the Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition, and Teacher’s College, Columbia University, respectively.

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ARTICLE EDITED BY:

Staci has been a registered dietitian with the Commission on Dietetic Registration since 2010 and has over a decade of experience in the nutrition and dietetics industry. She has graduate degrees in Biology, Human Nutrition, and Nutrition and Education from New York University, the Columbia University Institute of Human Nutrition, and Teacher’s College, Columbia University, respectively.

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